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Claude Julien Fired By Montreal Canadiens

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The Montreal Canadiens have made a change behind the bench, relieving head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller of their duties. Dominique Ducharme, who had been serving as an assistant, will serve as interim head coach, while Alexandre Burrows has joined the coaching staff. Luke Richardson and Stephane Waite will retain their respective duties with the staff.

GM Marc Bergevin released a statement:

I would like to sincerely thank Claude and Kirk for their contributions to our team over the past five years during which we worked together. I have great respect for these two men whom I hold in high regard. In Dominique Ducharme, we see a very promising coach who will bring new life and new energy to our group. We feel that our team can achieve high standards and the time had come for a change.

Earlier in the season, the Canadiens appeared ready to challenge for the top spot in the North Division, with a high-powered offense led by newcomers Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson. Unfortunately, some of that offense has dried up and the team has come apart at the seams, losing back-to-back games against the Ottawa Senators. Those two losses certainly punctuate a drop in play, but it was obvious for some time that the Canadiens weren’t as good as their early-season results.

They had the Vancouver Canucks number especially, but against non-Vancouver teams, the Canadiens had just a 5-5-3 record on the year. Recently, the coach had made drastic moves to try and spark the team like scratching Tomas Tatar, the team’s 2019-20 scoring leader. When that didn’t work, the hammer had to come down on someone and it turned out to be Julien.

It’s not like Ducharme has no experience running a bench though. The interim coach was an incredibly successful junior coach, winning the CHL Coach of the Year award in 2013. He has been the head coach of Canada’s World Junior team twice, winning gold in 2018. This will be, however, his first time as a head coach in the NHL. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that there is not another change expected before the end of the season.

For Julien, the term “relieved of duties” was used because he has one more year on his contract at $5MM, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. That means any team hoping to hire Julien will need to approach the Canadiens and negotiate a deal to pay at least some of that remaining salary. Otherwise, Montreal will pay him to stay at home for the next year.

If the old hockey adage of “show me a good coach and I’ll show you a good goalie” is true, perhaps it is the opposite that has cost Julien his job. Although Carey Price has looked rejuvenated at times this season, the simple fact is that he’s not stopping the puck enough for the Canadiens to contend each night. Price has just an .893 save percentage on the season and though some of that can be attributed to the play in front of him, his numbers have been trending down for several seasons now—not to mention Jake Allen’s .932 behind the same team. If Ducharme is to turn the Canadiens around this season (or in any of the next five), that performance has to improve.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

AHL Announces Full 2020-21 Schedule For Canadian Clubs

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Over a month since the AHL released the regular season schedules for its American teams and more than three weeks since those same teams started playing, the league has finally announced a full season schedule for its Canadian contingent. Of course, the clubs already began play over the course of the past week, but were operating on a limited schedule of just a few games. They now have a full slate to look forward to.

Like their American counterparts, the Canadian teams will all wrap up their regular seasons in mid-May. While the previously-released schedule ended on May 14, this new schedule has games up through May 16. Unlike the American teams, the Canadian clubs will all play the same amount of games. Though home and away splits differ, the Belleville Senators, Laval Rocket, Manitoba Moose, and Toronto Marlies will each play 36 games apiece.

The exception to all of this is the odd duck team of this AHL season: the Stockton Heat, an American team displaced for this year by a move to Calgary, the home of their parent club. The Heat, who were the final Canadian team to get started this season, will play a much different slate than any other team in the league due to their location away from American competition but also far from their fellow Canadian teams. “Stockton” will only play 30 games, broken up into long road trips and home stands. Their regular season schedule will also come to an end on April 29, more than two weeks before the rest of the league. The Calgary Flames knew there would be negative repercussions for relocating their farm team just before the season started, but felt the transactional benefits for the NHL club outweighed the limitations to their AHL club.

Poll: NHL’s “Thanksgiving Trend” Revisited

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Fans of the NHL are sure to be familiar with the deeper meaning that American Thanksgiving holds each season. With unrelenting consistency, the NHL’s standings on the final Thursday of November have had great predictive ability when compared to the final regular season standings. In fact, over the past seven years the Thanksgiving standings have been about 75% accurate at forecasting eventual playoff teams, predicting 12 of 16 spots on average. Even though American Thanksgiving only rolls around less than two months into the season, three out of four teams in a playoff spot at that time will have retained their postseason berth when the season ends.

The 2019-20 season of course did not have a standard postseason, but if it had then the Thanksgiving trend would have proved even more prophetic in a shortened campaign. Last year, in which teams were limited to between 68 and 71 games apiece prior to the early termination of the regular season, the Thanksgiving standings would have predicted 13 of 16 playoff teams in the standard format. Of the three teams that would have slid out of the postseason, the Florida Panthers trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs by .014 points percentage in the Atlantic Division and the Winnipeg Jets missed out by a measly .001 points percentage behind the Calgary Flames as the final Western Conference wild card. The Thanksgiving standings were that close to predicting 15 of 16 playoff teams in the shortened season, with the unexpected slow start for the Vegas Golden Knights and hot start for the Arizona Coyotes being the other unsurprising course correction.

But how does this trend impact a season that didn’t even begin until well after American Thanksgiving? Based on total games played by Thanksgiving over the past few seasons, Thanksgiving represents about the 30% progress through the NHL season. In the current 56-game season, that comes out to about the 17-game mark. Although postponements and rescheduling have created a wide discrepancy in games played among teams this year, the league as a whole passed that 17-game average on Saturday: Happy Thanksgiving. Admittedly, the 2020-21 campaign does have a different playoff model as well, one that is somewhat stricter than the last few years without the fallback of a wildcard spot for a team on the fifth-place fringe in their division. Yet, it is still a 16-team postseason and the Thanksgiving trend should hold. Using points percentage to rank the standings (the stat may end up determining playoff position for a second consecutive season anyhow) and adjusting for the season’s makeshift divisions, here is the current “Thanksgiving” outlook:

North Division                                                             East Division

Toronto Maple Leafs (.789)                                    Boston Bruins (.733)
Montreal Canadiens (.625)                                     Philadelphia Flyers (.679)
Winnipeg Jets (.618)                                                 Washington Capitals (.594)
Edmonton Oilers (.600)                                          Pittsburgh Penguins (.594)____
Calgary Flames (.472)                                                        New Jersey Devils (.583)
Vancouver Canucks (.405)                                                New York Islanders (.559)
Ottawa Senators (.237)                                                      New York Rangers (.469)
                                                                                                Buffalo Sabres (.429)

West Division                                                                Central Division

Vegas Golden Knights (.700)                                   Carolina Hurricanes (.781)
Colorado Avalanche (.679)                                       Florida Panthers (.750)
St. Louis Blues (.611)                                                  Tampa Bay Lightning (.700)
Minnesota Wild (.571)                                                Dallas Stars (.583)                    
Los Angeles Kings (.531)                                                    Chicago Blackhawks (.579)
Arizona Coyotes (.500)                                                       Columbus Blue Jackets (.526)
San Jose Sharks (.500)                                                       Nashville Predators (.412)
Anaheim Ducks (.417)                                                         Detroit Red Wings (.325)

Now this begs the question, especially seeing how accurate the Thanksgiving standings were in last year’s shortened season but also accounting for the many disruptions for a number of teams early this season, who is the trend currently overlooking? Which teams currently outside the playoff picture, if any, do you think will make the postseason when all is said and done later this season? Use the comments section below as well to discuss which teams may fall out of the postseason and whether you feel the Thanksgiving trend will apply this season.

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Canadiens Expect To Sign Cole Caufield, Jordan Harris After NCAA Season

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The Montreal Canadiens have been one of the biggest surprises thus far in the 2020-21 season and their success has often been fueled by the play of their rookies and other young impact players. The team’s talent pipeline isn’t drying up any time soon either and the club expects to add a pair of top prospects to organization before the end of the current campaign. Speaking with the media today, GM Marc Bergevin all but confirmed that 2019 first-round pick Cole Caufield will turn pro at the end of his sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin. The Athletic’s Arpon Basu adds that Bergevin also noted that defenseman Jordan Harris is also expected to sign with the club when he wraps up his junior season at Northeastern University.

Caufield, 20, is easily Montreal’s best unsigned prospect and quite possibly the top non-NHL player in the organization. A record-breaking goal-scorer for the U.S. National Team Development Program, Caufield was the 15th overall pick two years ago and even that felt too low to many scouts and analysts. He has since solidified his status as a dangerous offensive weapon, posting a point-per-game season as a freshman on a disappointing Wisconsin squad last season, winning Big Ten Rookie of the Year. He spurned the pros to return for a second year, and so far that has resulted in a whopping 17 goals and 33 points in 22 games and a top NCAA ranking for the Badgers. Caufield also took home a gold medal at the World Juniors for Team USA, collecting five points along the way. Caufield has not let his small stature slow him down against the older and larger competition at the college level nor against his elite peers at the WJC. The Canadiens expect more of the same once he gets to the NHL, as Bergiven glowed about his ability and his growth this season. Basu notes that while Montreal fans will want Caufield on the NHL roster immediately, Bergevin stated that cap considerations, quarantine timelines, and roster structure will all play a part in determining where the highly-touted prospect begins his pro career.

Harris, 20, may not compete with Caufield on name value and draft stock alone, but can hold his own as a productive collegiate player and promising NHL prospect. A third-round pick in 2018 out of the New England prep school ranks, Harris is skilled, puck-moving defenseman. He made a clean jump from high school to college, recording 13 points in 39 games as a freshman for the Hockey East Champion Huskies, but has improved considerably in each of his last two seasons – 21 points in 33 games last year and 16 points and a career-high five goals through just 15 games this year. He is Northeastern’s No. 2 scorer, a locker room leader, is a big reason why the program finds itself in contention for an NCAA Tournament spot. While he may not have the immediate NHL upside of Caufield or an Alexander Romanov, Harris is another player for Habs fans to get excited about and he may even see some NHL action himself later this year if the situation is right.

Of course, the question of whether Caufield or Harris can make an impact with Montreal this season is very dependent on their NCAA schedule. The NCAA Tournament is not scheduled to begin until March 26 and for Frozen Four teams the season may not end until April 10. While the discrepancy between games played and frequent absences of players this season should make for unpredictable conference and national tournaments, both Caufield and Harris have a chance to make a deep run. Caufield’s Wisconsin Badgers are currently ranked No. 5 in the country and seem like a lock for the NCAA Tournament and a title contender. Harris’ Northeastern Huskies are currently right on the edge of qualification at No. 16, but have another month of regular season games and the Hockey East Tournament to clinch a spot. If Harris is not playing in the national tournament, he should have plenty of time to get to Canada and suit up for the AHL’s Laval Rocket or even the Canadiens over the last six weeks or so of the season. However, if either players’ season stretches deeper into April, leaving less than a month of NHL regular season games available following quarantine, there is less of a chance that they make their Montreal debut, especially Harris but potentially for Caufield as well. Fortunately, the Canadiens will get to see both players in action far beyond just the end of this season.

Five Players Clear Waivers

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Despite some major names being available on the waiver wire over the past 24 hours, all five players have cleared. Montreal’s Paul Byron, Detroit’s Danny DeKeyser, and new Carolina acquisition Alex Galchenyuk were all waived for roster flexibility and will be reassigned to their respective taxi squads. Young Columbus defenseman Gabriel Carlsson has been reassigned to the taxi squad for now but will soon join the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters in order to get some play time. Boston’s Par Lindholm has signed a new contract with the SHL’s Skelleftea AIK and will see his NHL contract terminated. No new players have been placed on waivers today.

Of the group, the player who was quietly the most likely to be claimed was Carlsson. The big 24-year-old blue liner, a 2015 first-rounder, lost his waiver exemption this season and the Blue Jackets did not want to risk him on the wire earlier this season. However, through the first quarter of the campaign he has not seen any NHL game action sitting behind a deep Columbus defense corps. With the AHL season now up and running, the team opted to take the chance with Carlsson in order to get him some play time in the minors and it paid off. The stay-at-home defenseman has played in at least one game for Columbus in each of the past four seasons and will likely be back with the team at some point this year. However, the team will try to avoid another trip through waivers as they might not be so lucky a second time putting the sturdy and affordable defender back up for grabs.

Of course, the bigger names available were Byron, DeKeyser, and Galchenyuk. The Montreal Canadiens, short on cap space but not on forward talent, have been playing Byron in a checking role, making him an expensive fourth liner. The club had been trying to trade the veteran, but there were no takers on his contract despite his solid career numbers. The team hoped that Byron would clear waivers so that they could retain the player, who is absolutely still a serviceable top-nine forward, while also opening up some salary cap space by transitioning him to the taxi squad. Galchenyuk was in fact traded already and just on Saturday as a matter of fact. The skilled forward was dealt by the Ottawa Senators to the Carolina Hurricanes as part of a three-player deal. Playing on an affordable and expiring contract, Galchenyuk was a risk-free acquisition for the ’Canes but was even more valuable if he could be stashed on the practice squad and used in case of emergency in a scoring role. Their plan succeeded and now Carolina simply has to decide whether the now-flexible Galchenyuk is worth more to them on their taxi squad or as a trade asset to flip to another team. The surprise inclusion was DeKeyser, one of the few holdovers of the most recent Detroit Red Wings’ powerhouse teams. DeKeyser has been in decline for several seasons now, but playing for a rebuilding club – especially with limited ice time this season – and dealing with injuries does not make for flattering statistics for anyone. A player who still has the support of his coaches and teammates may end up on the taxi squad but is likely to still be a prominent presence for the organization, especially with another year remaining on his current contract.

Lindholm was the outlier of the bunch. After clearing waivers earlier this season, the underutilized veteran was placed on the wire again to begin the process of a contract termination. Lindholm was not expected to be claimed and even if he had been, there still would have been a conflict with the multi-year contract he just recently signed in Sweden. Lindholm may actually be capable of being a reliable fourth line center in the NHL, but that opportunity was not available in Boston and seemingly nowhere else in the league at the current time, so the veteran will return home.

Montreal Canadiens Waive Paul Byron

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In a move that was foreseeable yet is still somewhat surprising, the Montreal Canadiens have placed veteran forward Paul Byron on waivers. The team explicitly stated that their intention is for Byron to clear waivers and be assigned to the taxi squad, but that is out of their hands for the next 24 hours. The veteran forward could be claimed by a team who sees the upside in him if given the proper role and adequate ice time.

Given Montreal’s tight salary cap squeeze and the role that Byron has played this season to the tune of $3.4MM AAV, it is no surprise that the club sought a change. Byron has been forced into a checking role for the Habs as a result of a busy off-season and the emergence of several young players. His ice time is down to just 12:36 per night, a new low since he became an NHL regular in 2013-14, and he has no goals and just three assists in 14 games. The Canadiens could not afford to have a substantial amount of cap space chewed up by such production.

However, there is a reason that Montreal has been actively trying to trade Byron and is hoping that he clears waivers: the 31-year-old still has value. A versatile and hard-working forward, Byron may have meager numbers so far this year and had his production limited by injury last season, but he still has plenty of scoring potential. Byron is just two years removed from a 2018-19 season in which he recorded 31 points in just 56 games, a 45-point full-season pace. Had he played 82 games, it almost certainly would have been his third straight season of 20+ goals and 35+ points. While health is a concern, Byron has shown to be an effective forward otherwise. As Byron is signed through 2022-23 at a healthy cap hit, any team looking to claim him is surely taking a risk. For this reason, combined with the hassle for U.S. teams of moving any player from Canada to south of the border this season, Byron may very well go unclaimed. However, if a club still believes that a healthy Byron has that same 40+ point upside, then he could be a value as an experienced top-nine forward, even over the next several years.

Also on waivers today are Detroit’s Danny DeKeyser (link), Boston’s Par Lindholm (link), Columbus’ Gabriel Carlsson, and Carolina’s newly-acquired Alex Galchenyuk. Edmonton’s James Neal has cleared after being waived yesterday.

Snapshots: Tatar, Dumba, Devils, Murphy, Hamonic

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The Montreal Canadiens will be without Tomas Tatar Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who is a healthy scratch, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. The move made by head coach Claude Julien is believed to be a message sent to both Tatar and the team after Montreal has lost three of their last four games.

Tatar, despite having four goals and eight points in 14 games, has been adequate on the ice, but not as good as last season when he posted 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games. Engels believes that the message is meant just as much to the team as Tatar is one of the most popular players in the locker room.

The Philadelphia Flyers attempted a similar benching of leading scorer Travis Konecny on Jan. 30. Unfortunately, he has not scored a point since then.

  • Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports that a New Jersey Devils team spokesman said the team will be allowed to return to practice on Monday. That will be the first time the team has been allowed on the ice since the game at Buffalo on Jan. 31. The team is currently scheduled to play on Tuesday at the New York Rangers.
  • The Minnesota Wild got even more good news when they learned that defenseman Matt Dumba should be in the lineup on Tuesday when they begin playing once again after suffering what looked to be a severe ankle injury, according to Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan. Dumba got tangled up with teammate Jordan Greenway and suffered an awkward fall on Jan. 30, but the blueliner said that he’s feeling good and has no issues regarding the injury. The 26-year-old Dumba is looking solid this season, already with three goals in just nine games this season. Teammate Mats Zuccarello is also getting closer to a return. The veteran forward practiced Friday in a non-contact jersey.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have placed defenseman Connor Murphy on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 9, according to NHL.com’s Brandon Cain. The blueliner was suffered a right hip injury in that game and is expected to miss up to two weeks. Murphy has been playing well for Chicago with two goals and five points in 13 games, while averaging 22:45 of ATOI.
  • The Vancouver Canucks could be getting a boost back to their defense as head coach Travis Green reported that defenseman Travis Hamonic is close to returning to the team. The 30-year-old blueliner remains on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He has only appeared in five games with the Canucks this year with two assists, but could be a big addition if he returns soon.

Snapshots: Danault, Simek, Frk

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Montreal Canadiens center Phillip Danault has struggled this season as he is one of just two forwards who have yet to record a goal this season. The 27-year-old is coming off of 53 and 47-point seasons that last two years, but the pending unrestricted free agent reportedly turned down a six-year, $30MM deal during the offseason, according to Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan, and it looks to be weighing on him.

Danault refused to talk about his contract situation Friday, but Cowan said that ice time might play more of a role in his decision-making than money. Danault, who was playing top-six minutes for much of the past two seasons, is now the team’s No. 3 center behind Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

“I needed some time to adapt,” Danault said. “There are a lot of things that changed at the same time, whether it was my ice time or the way I was being used on the penalty-kill. I’m still playing with the same linemates, though. We try to give everything we have every night. I’m ready to do everything I can to help the team win. It’s going really well right now and we’ll keep on going that way.”

  • NHL Player Safety announced that San Jose Sharks defenseman Radim Simek has been fined $5,000 for spearing Anaheim Ducks forward Adam Henrique Saturday (video here). The fine is the most that is allowed by the CBA.The infraction occurred at 6:21 of the second period when the spearing occurred in front of the Sharks’ net. The two players then fought immediately afterwards with both players receiving two-minute penalties for roughing with the spearing getting missed.
  • The Los Angeles Kings could be without forward Martin Frk for some time, according to Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris. While he hasn’t received an update from the team’s training staff, head coach Todd McLellan said that by the look of the injury, he could be “out for a little while.” Frk missed the first nine games of the season with a groin injury and was making his season debut Friday only to be knocked out with another  lower-body injury.

Injury Notes: Blues, Armia, Necas, Kase

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The St. Louis Blues’ Tyler Bozak, who has been sidelined since January 26th, has finally been retroactively placed on the injured reserve per a team release. Ironically, the Blues waited so long to make the the move that Bozak is already eligible to be activated from IR. However, he is still considered day-to-day and there is not definitive timeline for his return. Bozak has been out with an undisclosed upper-body injury since taking a heavy hit from Vegas’ Mark Stone nearly two weeks ago. Defenseman Marco Scandella has additionally been ruled out for the time being with an upper-body injury, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Scandella was a late scratch for the Blues’ game on Thursday, believed to have been the result of this same nagging injury. Thomas adds that Zach Sanford is also out for the Blues with, of all things in the age of COVID, the flu. Sanford is off to a slow start this season despite playing on the team’s top line recently, but perhaps taking some time to get back to full strength will put him back on track.

  • Sanford is not alone in his struggles with the flu. While the virus is certainly the lesser of two evils this season, it is still hampering a return to action for the Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Armia as well. Armia, who was initially sidelined by a concussion, is doing better in that regard, head coach Claude Julien tells TSN’s John Lu. However, he has been unable to skate with the team due to flu symptoms. The team hopes to have Armia back at practice on Monday at the earliest.
  • Young Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas has also entered the concussion protocol after suffering an injury on Thursday, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. However, head coach Rod Brind’Amour is not worried that he will miss a considerable amount of time. Specifically, he tells Alexander that Necas is “going to be out for a little while but I don’t think it’s going to be very long.” His injury is only being termed as an “upper-body” ailment.
  • The Boston Bruins are hoping to have Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk back before their next game on Wednesday, but it seems Ondrej Kase is still a ways behind in his recovery from a concussion. Head coach Bruce Cassidy tells The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa that Kase has been able to ride the exercise bike, but he has not yet resumed skating. Kase has been out since the Bruins’ second game of the season and is currently on injured reserve. A talented, but injury-prone young forward with a history of head trauma, Kase needs to return to the Bruins lineup and show some durability and consistency and establish chemistry with his team ahead of an off-season in which he will be a restricted free agent and the subject of a difficult Expansion Draft decision.

Trade Rumors: Bennett, DeAngelo, Stepan

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As if there weren’t enough whispers surrounding Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett, his healthy scratch last night did not help. The news emerged well ahead of the Flames’ game on Thursday that Bennett would not play and TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that speculation swelled across the league that this implied Bennett was available for trade. Bennett’s play has improved of late and the player himself even told the media that the scratch came as a surprise. However, with Bennett wanting out of Calgary – though he would not confirm a formal trade request – perhaps the Flames want to look at other internal options who could take Bennett’s place, as well as protect the health of their trade asset. With that said, Dreger warns not to get too excited. He says a trade is certainly not imminent, which harkens back to the Flames own admission that they would not rush to trade Bennett and may not move him at all if they cannot find the right deal.

  • As for the possibility of a trade involving Bennett and another player on the block, New York Rangers defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, there are mixed reports. On Wednesday, Bob McKenzie reported on the NBC Sports broadcast that the Calgary Flames were among four or five teams that had interest in the “reclamation project” that is DeAngelo. A talented, but polarizing player, DeAngelo could be of interest to any number of teams, so even a Calgary team with good defensive depth would not be a major surprise. However, Sportsnet’s Flames beat writer Eric Francis dispelled the rumors of Calgary interest in DeAngelo. He also reiterated that the team will take their time with a Bennett trade and will not rush into a deal for another player on the rumor mill.
  • The other teams mentioned by McKenzie as kicking the tires on DeAngelo: the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, and Los Angeles Kings. As rebuilding teams, taking a chance on the talent and youth of DeAngelo makes a ton of sense for any of these clubs. Considering that DeAngelo has already cleared waivers as well, Detroit or L.A. could also convince New York to add a draft pick to the trade, while Anaheim may be more interested in the Rangers retaining some of DeAngelo’s $4.8MM salary.
  • Despite an impressive win over the rival Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, the season has not gone as planned so far for the Ottawa Senators. After adding some veterans to the roster this off-season, the team hoped the influx of experience and talent combined with their considerable youth and upside would result in more wins. Thus far, they have the league’s worst record at 2-8-1. As a result, changes could be coming to the roster. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that one major change could be a quick flip of veteran center Derek Stepan. Stepan was acquired right before training camp in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes but has failed to make much of an impact for the Senators. He has just three points and -7 rating through ten games, averaging just two shots per game and on pace for the worst possession numbers of his career. It is believed that Stepan is as unhappy with his role in Ottawa as the Senators are in his production. A separation could be coming soon  since the veteran still has value across the league, especially on an expiring contract. Stepan, 30, is a durable, two-way center who has scored at a 40-point pace or better in each of nine NHL season prior to last year.

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